I'm struggling to name another parent more different from myself and my peers than Adrian Peterson or Mama June.
It's not because they are celebrities -- one famous athlete and one questionable reality TV star.
It's because each of them behaved in ways this year that seemed far outside what's considered normal by conventional parenting standards. For parents who question themselves nearly as often as they feel judged by others, the misdeeds of celebrity parents seem to push the rest of us up the bell curve.
Public parenting mistakes may seem like the safest way to pass judgment on a person everyone knows, but no one knows personally. Yet even when they remind us which lines we would not cross, they reveal something about our culture and about ourselves. To attempt to distance ourselves from the most egregious parenting behaviors is to miss the opportunity to see the big picture.
NFL running back Adrian Peterson has not played for the Minnesota Vikings since September, when he was charged with abusing his 4-year-old son. He pleaded no contest in November to misdemeanor reckless assault for hitting his son with a wooden switch, which caused welts and bleeding on the child's back, legs, buttocks, genitals and ankles.
If America had watched a video of a 6-foot, 217-pound man whipping a 4-year-old boy's bare body, would there be any question about whether that man committed a crime? Probably not. It's one thing to debate appropriate discipline, but it's another to actually see a professional football player take a switch 10 to 15 times to a preschool-age child to the point that it draws blood and leaves marks days later.
Even parents who have spanked their children, and many have, wouldn't go this far.
But who among us has not felt a moment of fury, an outsized reaction to a child's misbehavior that pushed our buttons beyond our rational self? What if our worst parenting moments were recorded and posted for the world to see?
Peterson's actions reminded us how easy it can be to escalate a situation and how easily a grown adult can seriously hurt a small child.
Another person out of a job this year because of questionable parenting was reality TV star "Mama June" Shannon, the matriarch of TLC's now-canceled "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." She allegedly renewed a relationship with Mark McDaniel, the man who reportedly molested her daughter when the girl was 8 years old. Although Shannon denies dating McDaniel, her pattern of behavior suggests deep denial about the severity of what her daughter suffered.
Child sexual abuse is far more common than most adults would like to believe. Most researchers who study the prevalence of child sexual abuse suggest the rate is between 8 percent to 20 percent of all children.
The true prevalence of child sexual abuse is not known, because victims are reluctant to report it. Even so, the Children's Assessment Center in Houston estimates that there will be 500,000 babies born in the U.S. this year who will be sexually abused before they turn 18.
And yet, many adults doubt a child's accusations made against a relative, popular teacher, coach or religious leader. Research has consistently shown that few abusers are ever identified or incarcerated. Estimates suggest that only 3 percent of all cases of child sexual abuse, and only 12 percent of rapes involving children, are ever reported to police, according to data from the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence. Relatively few accused offenders are ever investigated or charged.
There is a culture of denial toward the problem of child sexual abuse; most people don't want to believe children were victimized or that trusted adults abused them.
But this culture of denial extends beyond the realm of horrific felonies. Plenty of ordinary parents deny, ignore or rationalize our own less-than-stellar parenting moments. We might not physically take out our rage on our children, but maybe we vent our frustration by yelling in anger. We may not be cable TV-level stage moms, but maybe we put our children in a social media spotlight they haven't asked for.
If we are honest, most parents can find hints of Adrian Peterson's criminal overreaction or Mama June's deep well of denial within us.
It's infinitely easier to change the channel than confront that uncomfortable notion.